Leveraging knowledge graphs in pharmaceutical supply chains: insights into key drivers of drug shortages

Supply chain issues pose a serious challenge to the pharmaceutical industry. The COVID-19 pandemic, raw material and labour bottlenecks, and rising demand from an ageing population have exacerbated disruptions, sparking discussions on the resilience of pharmaceutical supply chains. In Germany, drug shortages have drastically increased, leading to several supply deficits for specific medicines. The complex environment and extensive information necessitate a unified view that is both scalable and flexible. Therefore, we systematically collect and fuse disparate and heterogeneous medical data sources to build a comprehensive knowledge graph. By integrating interconnections between entities, the graph facilitates the identification of critical suppliers and drug patterns. The results reveal a significant increase in shortages in Germany. The drivers of these shortages are multifaceted and primarily relate to production, market, and process issues. Furthermore, we quantify a shortage's severity and economic impact to support targeted measures. Based on our research, we provide decision support and mitigation strategies, enabling the identification and prioritisation of shortages and strengthening resilience. For companies and governments, understanding the drivers of drug shortages is essential for shaping production and pricing strategies and ensuring supply security. Future studies can extend our dataset and methodology to apply artificial intelligence-based approaches.